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Highlights

Gain the skills and qualification to get into a rewarding career supporting under-five-year olds in their learning and development, and help give them the best start possible to their education.

Strong emphasis placed on practical experience in a variety of early childhood services and centres.

May qualify you for a higher pay scale as it recognises your previous qualification.

Flexible study options available through online delivery for flexible learning mode students and lecture-free days in the on-campus programme.

Flexible learning mode through online/study guide

By studying through flexi, you will have the flexibility to study whenever and wherever you want. You can study from home and at times that suit you – evenings, weekends, or while the kids are away at school.

You will need good internet connection and a computer with multimedia capability so you can access study materials and interact with your lecturers and peers from wherever you are.

There will be on-campus requirements of up to 7 days a semester.

What you'll be studying

This is an intensive programme equivalent to 1.25 years of full-time study completed within a 12-month period.

During the course of your study you will:

Be introduced to the ECE curriculum and learn about social and learning contexts specific to early childhood education.

Choose your career

This qualification prepares you to teach in all early childhood services in New Zealand, including early childhood care and education centres, crèches and kindergartens. You can also work overseas.

You will be eligible to apply for provisional registration as a practising professional early childhood teacher, possibly leading to leadership or management positions in an early childhood centre in the future.

With a three-year bachelors degree and a graduate diploma you’ll be eligible to start on a higher step of the salary scale in services covered by the NZEI teaching collective agreement for early childhood teachers.

Applicants who have English as an additional language and are not a graduate at degree level (Level 7 or higher) from a New Zealand or Australian higher education institution will need to provide an Academic IELTS assessment. The Academic IELTS assessment must have a minimum score of at least 7.0 or higher in each of the IELTS modules. If you have studied at secondary school in New Zealand for at least two years, and have eight, Level 2 NCEA University Entrance literacy credits (four credits in reading and four credits in writing), you would be exempted from the ITE Academic IELTS requirement.

Interested in further study?

With a GradDipTchg you could go on to postgraduate study (eg, Postgraduate Diploma in Education, which offers a number of specialisations). This can lead to study in education at masters and doctoral level. With three years of teaching experience, it is also possible to enter directly into the Master of Professional Studies in Education.